Mario and Luigi: King Boo's Curse
by NormanWhitesmith
Summary: After subjectively winning a fight with King Boo, Mario is dealing with a rather strange side effect and has only three days to fix it before becoming the next boo king. Can Mario survive slowly losing himself? Can Luigi survive a dominance battle for his body with his arrogant alter ego?


_Hello internet and welcome to- oh wait... Forget that last part. It is I, Norman Whitesmith, here again to bring you a new story I've been promising for ages. I finally managed to churn out the first chapter after so long. I have nothing else to say, really other than review please and tell me how I did. I wish you happy reading, so without further ado, here's chapter one._ XxX

Chapter One

XxX

"When will you stupid Mario brothers learn? You can't stop me!"

Mario quickly dodged King Boo as he slammed himself into the ground where Mario was standing just milliseconds before.

"When will you learn? Evil never triumphs!" Mario shot back at the ghost king, using the flashlight he was holding to shine it in the Boo's eyes, effectively making him cover his small and sensitive eyes with his nubby hands. "Okay Luigi, now!"

Luigi leapt from his perch on one of the rafters in the rather large attic ceiling and plummeted through one of the holes to the ground. Luigi quickly shook off the shock of such a large drop and ran to Mario's aid, weilding the nozzle of his trusted vacuum, the Poltergust 5500. King Boo heard the rattling of the vacuum and knew his doom was quickly approaching and that he had to do something.

He had come too far to give up now and be put back in a painting. His power was waning and although there wasn't much he could do, he had to buy time to build up some power. A sudden sound of something crashing to the floor indicated that the green man, known for his clumsiness, had fallen at a critical time.

"Luigi! Are you alri-"

A manical laugh cut Mario off, making him realize that in the keystone moment, he accidentally shone his flashlight away from King Boo, freeing him from the trance he was in.

"Such stupid brothers. And to think you just lost your grip on me because of that overgrown baby that you were unfortunate enough to be related to."

Mario felt his blood boil and tried to shine the light at the king again, only the flashlight to be flung out of his hand, clattering uselessly on the floor 10 yards away.

"You give that back, coward! Let us have a fair fight!"

"But I really don't think two against one is fair, but you're right."

Mario felt his blood run cold when he heard a scared whimper from Luigi. Turning around Mario found Luigi suspended in mid-air and surrounded by a glowing purple light, next to him... a pair of scissors, dangerously sharp, surrounded by a identical light.

"So I guess I should even the odds so you have a fair fight. And also, move closer Mario and I'll kill him now."

The scissors started circling Luigi, who could only whine and follow his doom with his eyes, King Boo's power holding him firmly in place.

"Let's see," began King Boo as Mario was paralyzed in horror. "How does one deconstruct a man? I guess we first need to strip him of his pride."

The scissors moved back before swooping in like an eagle to its prey, moving back and forth hypnotically and slowly shearing Luigi's mustache off until there was nothing left but bare skin under the man's nose.

"I guess you can say that was a close shave!" chuckled King Boo at his own joke, "after all, you can thank me that you don't have to maintain that bushy mess anymore. But I guess it doesn't matter since you'll be peeled of your skin in an identical manner in a moment!"

"King Boo, don't do this," pleaded Mario with burden heavy in his voice.

The scissors continued to dance around Luigi, knocking his hat off and shortening his hair with each swoop they took. In actuality, King Boo was exhausted. He didn't have much power left, but this bluff is what he needed to buy time. With fake contemplation plastered on his face, King Boo started floating around in circles; circling Mario as he tapped his lower lip with his hand.

"Let's see, should I kill plumber boy's brother now, or should I have a fair fight. Such decisions! I mean Luigi is barely worth the time..."

King Boo allowed one swipe of the scissors to lightly cut the tip of Luigi's nose, making him yelp as a thin line of blood rose up from the cut.

"But I do have better things I could be doing..."

Another cut, this one nicking his ear and unevenly cutting the cowlicks of hair from the front of Luigi's head. Another swivel and the scissors were hovering in front of and pointed at Luigi's neck. The glint of the purple against the steel flashed dangerously. Luigi, seemingly having already accepted his fate, had his eyes closed to slits and had a light grimace frozen on his face.

"LET HIM GO, KING BOO!" Mario pleaded, tears starting to stream down his face, hoping and praying his brother's life would be safe.

The king of the Boos turned to Mario with a malicious grin on his face.

"Bow to me."

"W-what?"

"I said bow to me. Do it or your brother's life gets cut short right now."

Mario shakily got to his knees, his pride and dignity slowly waning. While this might not save Luigi, it was his best shot. Maybe compliance will make King Boo release his brother.

"Oh how the mighty have fallen down low!" chortled King Boo examining his handiwork on the formerly glorified hero of the Mushroom Kingdom, "but I'm afraid that your head isn't low enough. Put it to the ground."

With salty yet bitter tears, Mario lowered his head to the floor, cringing at the feeling of rubble on the ground against his forehead. Wait, that's it! Mario carefully slipped a good sized stone into the palm of his hand, making sure the ghost didn't notice.

"So Mario, you're now at my mercy as well as your brother. Any final words to your brother? You can't stop me now."

Mario slowly stood up, the bitter tears turning firey with anger. "I have four words for you." Mario raised his hand containing the stone. "It's not over yet."

Mario, with blinding speed and accuracy, hurled the stone straight at the ghost king that realized his mistake too late. Meeting its mark, the stone crashed against the crown, flinging it from King Boo's head, stripping the king of his power source. As the crown clinked to the ground, a single fissure formed on the surface and ran through it, dangerously crackling out purple electricity.

Time seemed to slow as Mario made his move towards Luigi as the light released him and he began to fall, Mario catching his younger brother just before he dropped to the ground, slightly wincing as the poltergust attached to Luigi's back dug into his skin. Mario quickly, but gently set Luigi on the ground and turned to grab the crown before the ghost king could. Unfortunately, Mario only caught a glimpse of white floating up through the ceiling, signifying King Boo had beat him to the draw. But no matter, Luigi was worth more to Mario.

"Luigi! Are you alright?"

Mario stared worriedly at Luigi who hadn't opened his eyes since falling. Finally, his body trembling ever so slightly, Luigi's eyes creaked open, staring at the ceiling.

"I... almost died..." Luigi's voice shook. "But you chose to save me instead of stopping the king..."

Luigi's body shook in a series of silent sobs, Mario extending a hand to his brother and grabbing him so he could get up.

"That's because you're worth it to me, bro. If I were in trouble, I know you'd sacrifice it all to help me, even if it meant letting the villain get away."

Luigi gave Mario a small smile as he shakily got to his feet, before a frown crossed his face when he rubbed underneath his nose.

"Aww man, I'm going to have to start all over with my mustache! It was hard to grow it right and it'll take forever to-"

Luigi was cut off by a ringing noise from his pocket. After fishing around in that seemingly infinite abyss of a pocket, Luigi's hand closed on the Dual Scream and pulled it out to answer the call. It was the professor.

"My lads, I have to- What happened to you, Luigi?" the grainy voice cut out of the repurposed game console.

"I-it's a long story. What happened was-"

Luigi got cut off by the professor before he could finish. "Okay, nevermind, we don't have time for that. I'm calling you to tell you that King Boo is on the roof and regaining power. It's going kind of slow, but you need to catch him. It's now or never and he's already weakened, so metaphorically speaking, now is the best time to go in for the kill. But you have to go now!"

"Yes professor," both brothers chanted as they recomposed themselves, Mario grabbing his flashlight and Luigi making sure the vacuum was still in working order.

"King Boo? More like black and blue! Or at least he will be when we're done with him," Mario confidently said as he lead Luigi to the roof access ladder, ready for the final confrontation.

XxX

King Boo was exhausted. In fact, he was more than exhausted. He had already used up a dangerous amount of his power fighting the two meddling brothers before they weakened him further. Although Luigi tripping at the wrong time was a lucky chance for King Boo, it didn't matter too much as he was already exhausted and couldn't do much to exploit the situation.

Though messing with Luigi was pretty effective, he literally didn't have the strength to drive the scissors into Luigi's neck for the kill even if he wanted to. If Mario hadn't hit him with that rock, stopping the bluff, he would have run out of power anyways. King Boo pulled off his crown and looked at it in his stubby arms with the purple fissure going down it.

He wasn't going to kid himself: He wouldn't win this fight by a long shot. He would only be captured again and there was no stopping it. Unless... No! Not that! It wasn't time for his final desperate curtain yet. A small amount of energy leaked from the crack, shocking him. Perhaps it was time, but he'd have to weaken Mario first before he took his final stand.

XxX

"Stop right there, King Boo! This ends now!" Mario yelled as he burst from the roof access hatch along with his brother.

Luigi only stayed silent, very unenthused at facing the very same thing that had almost murdered him with seemingly almost no effort.

A cackle was the ghost's response before he launched himself at Mario, trying to crush him. Mario dodged in the nick of time and King Boo hit the floor hard. But that didn't stop the Boo as he quickly got up again and charged up an energy ball, launching it and hitting Mario before he could regain his footing from dodging the last blow. Luigi, however, picked up the slack and body slammed the king in an attempt to stun him.

Mario shook off the stars in his head before getting up and running to stun the king with the flashlight. King Boo reacting quickly, phased partially through the floor and sent a strong electrical charge through the ground, electrocuting both Mario and Luigi momentarily. Smiling deviously, the king slowly rose up and looked at the brothers laying on the ground in agony, writing as the dark electricity coursed through them.

"Well well well, here we are again. Face it, Mario brothers. You can't beat me. Even at a weakened state, I'm still too strong." King Boo slowly moved towards Mario, who sat up and glared at the Boo.

"So I will ask you this again: any final words? You cannot stop me now."

"Actually, I have two," Mario replied, "point blank."

"What was that?"

Mario whipped out his flashlight with lightning speed and let out a flash, causing King Boo to scream in pain and cover his eyes.

"Luigi! Vacuum him up!" Mario commanded, a smug smile upon his face. No response. "Luigi?"

Mario turned to find Luigi on the ground shuddering and unresponsive with tears flowing out of his closed eyes. Another weak cackle behind Mario signaled he was too late once more.

"I must admit, you are good. You almost got me. The only flaw in your plan was relying on a whiny toddler to do part of the job."

Luigi finally stirred and opened his eyes a crack.

"I-I'm sorry, Mario. I wasn't strong enough."

Mario felt his face turn red in anger. "It doesn't matter that Luigi wasn't ready to capture you this time! You're too weak to win and it's only a matter of time before we do! And my brother is a strong man and don't you forget that! You aren't going to get away and you won't win!" Mario practically spat out the last words, venom laced in his voice.

King Boo, who was looking considerably winded at this point, gave a small smile. "You're right, I can't win. So you'll win for me."

Mario suddenly found himself surrounded by a purple light and couldn't move.

"I've had a good run as king and I probably wouldn't escape that stupid professor again, so I'll make you the new king and transfer my power to you. I must admit, you will make a good king over the forgotten dead. I was waiting for someone special to be my successor and you're the one!"

Mario could feel panic rising in his chest as a ball of black and white energy formed in front of the ghost king, contrasting sharply from the usual purple, his crown glowing identically. Luigi sensed danger and curled up into a ball.

" _So this is how it's going to end, huh coward? The brother who sacrificed everything for you dying just because you can't get your scared butt off the ground?"_ Luigi's conscience asked him.

King Boo's form got lighter as more energy charged up, the fissure in the crown's gem getting larger and more pronounced.

" _You're a nobody. At least save the hero._ "

Luigi slowly and shakily got to his feet.

"I-I won't let you kill him," Luigi said shakily as he moved slowly towards King Boo.

The king of the Boos didn't hear him, however and was nearly non existent by the time the ball of energy reached its full size and power.

"It's time," the king wheezed out and gave one more weak laugh that sounded more like a choke, "and long live King Mario. But then again, you won't remember being alive or even as much as your name."

Time slowed to a crawl for Luigi as the beam moved straight towards Mario. He couldn't let this happen.

"NOOOO!" shouted Luigi as he did the unthinkable: diving in front of the beam, hoping to sacrifice himself to save Mario.

Luigi's world errupted into light as the beam made contact with his chest directly, pain shooting through every part of his body, his head feeling the worst. The beam slowly moved away from his chest, making Luigi realize he was falling away from the beam and that it was still going strong. Luigi hit the ground uselessly as the beam hit Mario full on, his screams of pain getting drowned out by the sounds of thunder echoing in Luigi's mind. Luigi couldn't hear anymore as the sound drowned out all other noises and he could only watch the blinding white light as his vision began to incrementally flash black, much like fan blades spinning in front of a single light source.

All at once, it all stopped, Luigi fully regaining his bearings and looking about, a slight glow from the direction of Mario dying down.

"Mario?" Luigi called out.

The fading glow dissapated entirely, leaving Luigi to gasp in horror. Where Mario once stood floated the ghostly transparent figure of his brother.

XxX

 _No ending note. Please review_


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